Pullet Pecking Order Dysfunction

Well we have two spare Barred (Plymouth) Rock pullets that we thought we were going to sell, but have decided to keep. They are about three weeks younger than our Rhode Island pullets. We figured, "how hard can it be to integrate them with our slightly older Rhode Island Reds?" Well, we found out that it won't be quite that easy.  Right off the bat, it is obvious that the BRs were going to be the underdogs. They are about half the size of the RIRs.

We put the all the pullets into a newly cleaned coop that none of them had been in before. We moved them into the coop that I call the "hoop coop" which is large enough for eight standard sized chickens and the over-sized hoop run. I wanted to make certain that there was plenty of adjustment room which is like twice the actual space they need for their current age. We set up extra feed and water stations,

Initially, in the coop, they seemed fine, the two BRs on one end of the roost with the RIRs on the other end. The various pullets would hop down and explore then return to their own little flock. I thought, "so far so good."  So as the day warmed up, we opened the coop into the run.  Still okay, sorta. The RIRs explored the run while the BRs stayed inside the coop. 

By the end of the day, the BRs were so distressed, they were flying into the wire, trying to get away from the RIRs that were tormenting them. So we locked the two bully RIRs inside the coop at dusk and watched.  The BRs were still stressed with the two remaining RIRs even though those two were not tormenting. It was obvious there would be no way that the BRs would be allowed to sleep in the coop by the two bullies.  I scooped up the two BRs and put them back into their pen in the garage.  Then, I scooped up the other two RIRs (not the bullies) and added them to the BRs' pen.  It was obvious, right away, that the RIRs in that strange pen was not going to be the dominants, not with the pen still smelling like the BRs' house. The BRs immediately hopped back up on their roost, and no longer made their little distressed peeps. The RIRs hunkered down in the back corner of the cage and seemed quite subdued and confused. When I checked on them a few hours later, all four pullets were sleeping snuggled together on the roost. 

The next morning, still fine. No squabbles and no wounds. Although this pen is only temporary, it will hopefully give these four time to begin their own flock with a more gradual pecking order.

In a few days, I will take this same cage and put it into the run.  I will put the two bullies into the cage for a couple of days without cleaning it.  It will have the BR and now the less dominant RIR smell in it. I will use the same feeder and waterer too, (with fresh food and water) just to make certain that the bullies know that they have been demoted. The BRs and the less dominant RIRs will have free reign of the coop and run, while the bullies will be caged to cool their heels and watch the others having fun. 

After a day or two of this "bully demotion" I will let those two RIRs who think they are hot stuff back out and we will see what comes of that. 

I recognize that RIRs and BRs are both territorial breeds, but who would have thought that they would be this mean this early in life?!  I'll try to remember to update this post as we keep working on this new flock integration process.  I'm sure we will find a  solution.  Especially since we want to integrate the older RIRs with the younger flock later this summer.

Update May 25, 2020. 
We left the BRs with the cage with the two calmer RIRs. They were actually quite content as a small flock.  So we put them into the Coop together on May 22.  We put the large cage (actually too large for the run, but will deal with it).  We covered the cage to protect it from the elements a bit more and put the two dominant RIRs inside the cage with food and water.

The then caged RIRs were not happy with the fact that they could not tear into the other RIRs and BRs. We still kept two feeding stations in the run, just to be safe. The mean girls slept in the cage over night and stayed in there on May 23 as well.  The small semi flock were functioning well together and went to roost on their own on the evening of May 23.

At some point in the night, one of the mean girls found an escape route through the top of the cage and was sitting on the cage when we came out to release the others from the coop.  She took right after them to show that she was still the dominant one, but then calmed down a little. We left them all running loose in the run, keeping the cage in there in case we needed to cage back up the BRs.  There were still some scrimmages going on, but nothing too serious. As night fell, they all, four RIRs and two BRs went to roost in the coop.

Today, it was obvious that the RIRs were now blocking both feeding stations, keeping the BRs away. We set up a third feeding station inside the coop.  We have a dropdown (sliding) door on the coop.  We raised it just enough to allow the BRs out of the coop (and back in) but not high enough for the RIRs to get back in. Leaving the feeding station #3 in place for now.  When the RIRs get distracted with each other, the BRs come out and either get into their old cage, or go eat at the 2nd station. But as soon as they feel threatened, they run right in to the coop away from the mean girls.

Update May 28, 2020.
We have taken the large cage out of the run now. On May 26, the BRs and one RIR slept in the cage all night, basically refusing to go into the coop. So we locked them into the cage and the three RIRs in the coop. Last night, none of the birds could get into the cage because the door got bumped shut. So the two BRs tried to sleep on top of the cage.  After the four RIRs were in the coop, I put the BRs into the coop, closed it up, and they found a spot on the roost to sleep.  Tonight, the BRs were already in the coop and on the roost at dusk.. I lifted the door and the RIRs, one at a time, filed into the coop and hopped up onto the roost. Although the two BRs are able to move around and do their thing, a couple of the RIRs will show dominance and the BRs will run back into the coop during the day.  On occasion, one of the less dominant RIRs will try to get in the middle to calm things down. Since the RIRs can't get in the coop during the day, this actually gives the BRs an opportunity to eat and drink without being bullied or blocked from the feed stations located in the run.

This situation is not ideal, but with the BRs being so small, I don't think we have much option until those two mean RIRs have it figured out that these BRs are part of their flock. Interesting thing is that, at this point, the baby pullets that are currently six weeks of age (as about three weeks younger), are, essentially, the same size as the older BRs in our little flock. However, the younger BRs are not as feathered nor have the same sized combs. I truly do think we have two bantam BRs. I'm both intrigued and annoyed, but that's what happens when dealing with some of these "hobby" chicken breeders.

Update June 2, 2020.
The Rhode Island Reds are becoming more tolerant of the smaller Barred Rock.  The photo below shows them chill'n in the run.  We did not block the RIRs from the Coop today and it seems that the two feed stations now, are all that is needed. There's still some occasional chasing going on, but the BR are quick and seem to be able to dodge the brunt of the altercations.

Final Update June 8, 2020.
Finishing up the third week and the pullets are all settled into their pecking order.  The Barred Rock have figured out how to work around the Rhode Islands Reds, and are even actually playing (or perhaps toying) with them. In the coop, there is very little chittering. The Barreds have their space on the long roosting bar while all the Rhodes huddle together at the other end of the roost.The Barred Rock are still quite a bit smaller than the Rhodies. They are still about half the size of the Rhodes. So, I still don't really know what to think. If they do turn out to be bantams, I will likely sell them in September unless their egg size is medium since I would prefer not to have to deal with a bunch of small eggs.
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Pix of the Barred Rock alone, looking all tall.  But next to the Rhode Island Reds? Well, I have to wonder if the BRs might be bantams.

Barred Rock at six weeks

Barred Rock 7 weeks & RIRs @ 9 weeks

Rhode Islands 9 weeks / BRs 7 weeks

Rhode Island 11 weeks / BRs 9 weeks

Garden & Chicks - Early May Update 2020

Yes, still have a lot of chicks.

Lost a few small ones and nursed a couple more that seem to be doing better.  Yesterday, one of the little Rhode Island Reds cut her head, right behind her ear and others were picking on her.  They were chasing her away from food and I thought we were going to lose her. Washed her little face off and isolated her in a separate cage inside the pen, to ensure that she was able to eat, drink, and sleep.  Within a few hours, she was alert and ready to go back. The others didn't pick on her anymore and all seemed better.  Then, today, I noticed one of the Barred Rock chicks had pasty butt.  It still had food in it's crop, and was still eating, so I think I caught it early. I had to soak the chick in a pan of warm water to  get the poop off.  Holding it on a warm washcloth just wasn't doing a thing and the cloth just kept getting cold. Within a minute of putting the chick's butt into the water, the pooh released and fell off into the water. I wrapped her up into a little wash cloth and held her on my chest to keep her warm until I found the hair dryer.  Set that up about eight inches away and let it blow on her until she was all dry. Wasn't even ten minutes because she's so small. Put her back with the others, and she went right to the food and started eating. Fingers crossed on both of them.

We decided to add an extra feeder into the pen and put the other warmer into the pen.  That's been a big hit. Plus, every day is Sheet Cleaning Day with this many chicks.  I try to change the sheets every day simply because, well, there are a lot of little poopers in there all at the same time. Normally, I can wait about three days between changes. But not now!

24 hours of pooh from 16 chicks

The baby RIRs are starting to fly and jump over things. That's a good sign that we are about ready for shavings.  BUT, the baby BRs are not quite there yet.  They seem to be about three or four days behind the RIRs at this point.  When we got them, the RIRs were much smaller than the BRs.  Now the BRs are much smaller and somewhat delayed in abilities.  It's all good, but I would like to have them all in shavings at this point so I won't need to keep washing sheets.

The other BRs finally figured out their dust bath!  It was almost full and now it is almost empty.  They are mite and lice free at this point with just a few nits left. I am still keeping the heater going as that will help those nits hatch and fall into the DE.  One more week and I will clean out the entire cage to ensure we have all mites and lice out of there, and put all fresh stuff in there and we should be back on track, pest free. These BRs have gained weight and have more feathers, so they look much better.

4 or 5 wk Barred Rock Pullets

Dust Bath Emptied

In the greenhouse, we have tomatoes, bell peppers, cilantro and lettuce.  I had transplanted the plants from the nursery into gallon milk jugs because they were getting root bound in the containers. They were doing really well outside until the storms came in and started pelting them.  One of the bell peppers got the most damage, so they are back in the greenhouse for now.

Cherokee Purple Tomato Clones

Sweet Bell Pepper Clones

My starts, from seed in March, are finally looking good.  The lettuce also is doing very well.  I have three types of leaf lettuce.  The cilantro just sprouted this week. I will need to thin that out.

My Itty Bitty Starts are Growing

Potatoes are finally looking good. Strawberries are still blooming. Peas  (planted on two weeks apart three times) are all doing very well. The marjoram that I started last fall in the green house, then struggled to keep the bugs from killing it, is actually thriving. Last winter, I just took the pot outside and figured I would just start over in the spring. But it just came back on its own. Go Figure?

Cilantro Sprouts	Leaf Lettuce - unknown type
Leaf Lettuce - Red Sails	Topped Off Potatoes with Soil
Strawberries still blooming	Marjoram Revived itself
Peas Planted 2wks apart

And lastly, the clover seed that we sprinkled out last week has already sprouted. We tried to dig out all the thistles that had taken over some areas of the back yard and it looks like the clover is going to fill it all in.  So today, we scrapped out some areas that were filled with moss in the shade to see how long that will take.  Little by little.  I purchased 10 pounds of seed, so we have lots of areas to experiment and see how it does.

Crimson Clover Sprouts

Major Chick Update April 2020

We have more chicks now, than ever.  We had the original four Rhode Island Reds that are six weeks old, outside, really, outside, in the sun, in their run and making the adjustment from coop to being in the grass. 

Plus, a bit of a tragedy yesterday.  One of the 1-week old Rhode Island Red chicks died.  Actually, two of them seemed sickly when we picked them up.  My bad.  I received a call on Wednesday night that the RIRs had arrived at the store.  I didn't realize that the store had called, and so the little RIRs sat there until Friday morning.  The Barred Rock did arrive Friday morning.  I know better than to let chicks stay at the store in shavings and under a heat lamp for any length of time.  They will eat the small shavings and will also get too hot and get dehydrated.  A lot these "store chicks" will get pasty butt too, meaning that they are dehydrated/too hot. Although none of the chicks that I picked up had pasty butt, several of the RIR were lethargic, were not eating or drinking well, and they were stretching out their little necks while opening up their mouths really wide as though there was something stuck in their crops. So my bad for not checking my phone for calls from the store this past week. 

Sensing that we were going to lose at least two of the six new RIR chicks, we kinda went into panic mode trying to figure out what we were going to do.  Called the store only to be told that all chicks were sold from that batch they received in. That come Monday morning they MIGHT have a few left that people might not pick up.  Rather than risk it, I put in an order for three more chicks to arrive in early May.  Then we found a farm on the other side of town that had some three week old chicks, both RIR and Barred Rock. As we were arranging to drive across town to pick up some, the store called me back to say that they had three of the RIR's from the batch this past week.  Did I want them.  Yes, thank you!  I picked them up and they seem fine. Then, headed over to pick up a couple of the 3-week old Barred Rocks from across town. 

When they first arrived, I thought, no way that these are three weeks old.  Perhaps two weeks.  But, now that they are out and moving around in the quarantine pen, they do appear to be about three or four weeks old. In a few weeks, we can either put them out into the coop with the older RIRs. or mix them into the large flock in the brooder pen. 

So, yep. We have a LOT of chicklets right now! Oh, and by the way, the other RIR that seemed sick and we thought might die, is doing much better today.  Eating, drinking, pooping and running around with the larger flock. That means we now have eight 1-week old Rhode Island Reds, four 6-week old Rhode Island Reds, two 3-week old Barred Rocks and six 1-week old Barred Rocks.  This should be interesting for the next few weeks into June! 

2 6wk Rhode Island Reds Outside	2 other 6wk RIRs Outside
The 2 3wk Barred Rocks	2 3wk Barred "Plymouth" Rocks
The 1wk Mix of RIR and BR	Peeps digging in the corner
1wk Peeps	More of the 1wk peeps
And Peeps Just Hanging Out

Spring Garden and Chick Update

Moving the chicks outside this week was quickly followed by a lot of cloudy rainy days.  So there are no photos.  I don't want to stress them out in their new coop.  They are adapting, eating, drinking and pooping.  I have the tall brooder warmer in the pen and they will get under there when they get chilled. But mostly, they are loving their roost bar and acting like "big birds."

The new 12 chicks arrived that are already presold.  They are, of course, cute little fluff balls. Six Barred Rock and six Rhode Island Reds.

Garden is the big factor here this week.  Plants in the greenhouse are finally picking up.  I had purchased some cloned plants to supplement the plants that did not start well in the greenhouse. The Onions and Garlic starts are looking good in the back section of the square garden. We have covered the broccoli and cauliflower starts to help keep them a bit warmer but also protect from the cabbage moth, and other bugs that like to eat broccoli.  The strawberries, peas, and lettuce are looking quite good. Also, the wintered over plants are thriving.  I have already cut half of the oregano for drying and cooking.  The rest will be cut in a week or two. Potatoes finally came up and are looking strong.

Pea starts planted 2 weeks apart	Potatoes - not sure which are what
Potatoes popped up a little later	More Potatoes that finally popped up
Strawberry blossom	Wintered Over Parsley
Wintered Over Oregano	Wintered Over Marjoram
Winters Over Thyme	My starts next to a Cloned Tomato Start
Pepper, Tomato & Lavendar Starts	Some of my lettuce starts 1+ month old
Lettuce Start 2+ mo	Onions Left and Garlic Right
The new garden space	Cover tunnel for Broccoli & Cauliflower
Inside the tunnel	Wet dandelion Seed Head